- by VisionNet on 30/07/2012
Five Irish companies collapsed each day this month - and half of the businesses stress-tested across the economy showed signs that they were on the brink of failure, according to the latest figures from Vision-net, Ireland's leading business and credit risk analyst.
Vision-net's figures, covering the period between July 1 and July 25, show that 131 companies were declared insolvent - down 15% on the same month last year.
Of those, 97 were liquidated, 33 entered receivership, and an examiner was appointed to one company.
This month, Vision-net stress-tested 9,428 Irish companies - and 49% were found to be at high risk of failure.
Companies in the hospitality, construction, IT, motor, and wholesale and retail sectors were least likely to survive, according to Vision-net's analysis.
The month of July recorded 2,750 company and business start-ups, compared to 2,871 in July last year.
Professional services accounted for almost one-quarter of these new businesses - but the same sector recorded an equal number of business failures.
According to their latest filed accounts, 101 companies that held meetings of creditors last month owed their short-term creditors more than EUR37 million.
Last July, 118 companies held meetings of creditors.
Vision-net's figures show that 345 registered commercial and consumer judgements worth EUR27.5 million were awarded in the courts.
Of these, 241 were judgements awarded against consumers worth EUR25.3 million, with credit unions, Revenue Commissioners and banks topping the list of plaintiffs.
The Revenue Commissioners accounted for 19 of the 104 commercial judgements recorded in the courts this month, followed by professional services businesses and local authorities.
Overall, the average value of a judgement was EUR79,610 - up 76% on last July.
Christine Cullen, Managing Director of Vision-net, said the figures show that recovery in the domestic economy remains slow.
"The trading conditions remain very challenging for companies, with many of them, particularly those in the hospitality and construction sectors, struggling to stay afloat as consumer demand remains weak and the property market continues to stagnate. High levels of unpaid debt and cash flow problems are hampering the capacity of companies to stay in business or scale and this has a knock-on impact on jobs and growth. Vision-net's advice to entrepreneurs, and to those companies already up and running, is to research the market in which they operate using accurate business intelligence and then make informed decisions that give them the best chance of success in challenging times," said Ms Cullen.
01/10/2012
- Professional services accounts for one-quarter of all new firms
31/08/2012
- Dublin and Limerick the highest counties for insolvencies
28/06/2012
Stress test on Irish businesses show half are at risk of failure
01/06/2012
Consumers and business people had 304 judgments worth almost €34 million awarded against them in court last month as creditors fought to get debts paid, according to the latest figures from Vision-net, Ireland's leading business and credit risk analy
